Paddock Management + Rotation

[TracyPostling]

HELP!

I know this possibly comes as standard to most horsey owners who have had years of pasture management but I would really appreciate some pointers on how to do it properly!

I purchased a property with 14 acres in March. This is split into two 7 acre fields roughly one Summer one Winter field according to the old owner - but she had a flock of sheep. When she moved, the sheep disappeared and I inherited a bare Summer field and a pooh ravaged Winter field with hardly any grass left on it.

I have 4 horses of my own, one old boy who needs as much goodness as he can get and little knowledge of pasture management!

So here the tale really begins. I left them on the Winter field with hay until approx May. I had the Winter and Summer fields dragged and rolled and the Summer one re-seeded. The result was grass up to your chin and more grass than the poor horses could get on top of! Along with nice long grass, came weeds - thisltes and ragwort because the weather turned and the field has to this day not been sprayed.

So this weekend I had both paddocks topped. Nasty, horrid weeds have now gone, but so has my grass. So now I am not sure what to do for the best.

At the moment I have divided the Summer field into 2. I was planning on rotating the horses every 9-14 days roughly between the 2 parts of the Summer field and leaving the Winter one alone and moving them around Oct / Nov and doing the same with this - rotating them between the 2 sections of the Winter field and resting the Summer one. However, I am now thinking that I don't want the Winter one have grass so long that maybe it is best to graze this too and have a weekly rotation between all 4 fields and rest the Winter one from Aug - Nov. I was also thinking in the Winter I could open up the whole 14 acreas and let them roam around the whole lot seeking out new grass, but I don't want to get to the Summer and have nothing.

Any advice anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated!

 

[PandorasJar]

Topping is not bad as you don't particularly need knee high grass with horses anyhow and leaving it can be a nightmare. I would pull ragwort first though, don't just top.

Depends hugely on what soil you're on for winter. We're on sandy soil, 24/7 turnout all year and only the gate ways get damaged where they gate hang, clay would be a different story.

If on clay with no drainage don't open it all up! Fields will just be unusable after a while. Have a dedicated winter field, so it gets trashed and has a chance to recuperate.

Are they 24/7 turnout? Fed winter? Clay/sandy? etc etc

Pan

 

[Shazzababs]

I have 4 Acres divided into 2 fields, we are lucky to be on the side of the hill and well drained.

This is my normal Routine:

1 Dec - 1 Apr - Field 1
1 Apr - 1 Aug - Field 2
1 Aug - 1 Dec - Field 1 ... and so on.

I test and worm as a minimum before we change fields, and sometimes in the middle if one of the horses was particularly wormy when we switched.

When we change fields the one they have come off is topped and harrowed (Although at the Dec change it doesn't get done it the ground is really wet, but put on the list for ASAP).

If the field is particularly rich we will strip graze it with electric fencing when they first go in.

The Ragwort gets pulled or strimmed and sprayed (depending on which field its in).

However, this year I have so much grass they are not switching at the end of the month and will stay put until Dec when the other field will be standing hay.

With your current setting, if I were you I would put your horses in one field, and rest the other. In late autumn get the rested one topped, harrowed and sprayed for weeds. After 4 weeks put the horses in that one and rest the current one, and get the second field topped and sprayed in the spring. You can then top, harrow and fertilize the winter field in the spring if you want to.

How often you rotate the fields depends on how the grass holds up, but remember if you are harrowing rather than poo picking you need to allow 10 weeks at least to break the worm cycle. If I had 14 Acres I think I would be tempted to split it into 4 paddocks and graze them for about 2 months each on rotation, with the old boy proceeding the others if he needs more grass.

BTW if you have topped a field with ragwort in make sure its all collected up and burned before your horses go back in, they are more likely to eat it when dried.

 

[TracyPostling]

Ok, so this is really good information and it is all starting to formulate a proper plan in my head. Thank you so much!

The problem is it is just too much land to manage and I do not have the machinery at the moment to harrow and spread the pooh so I am pooh picking by hand :-( The farmer next door topped the fields for me but we pulled ragwort 1st, I was concerned about the topped cut grass though and whether they will be ok to go back on the fields with the cut grass laying on it as there was so much. I thought this was harmful to horses but people seem to be telling me otherwise. So they are basically back on the part they had strip grazed already by themselves with no encouragement from me which had no long grass to be topped.

The ground is actually really good. It is part clay / part sand with an incline so drainage is good and I just get a few poached patches when they congregate at the bottom and by the gates. They live out 24/7 but in the Winter I supplement with hay and hard feed where needed. I intended to give my old boy hard feed all through the Summer to keep him well conditioned but I think he was so full from all the grass he refused it every day for a week!

 

[PandorasJar]

Mowing is really bad to put them out on, topping not so but we still rest.

We will top and wait for the grass to dry (underneath the piles too!) this can take 2 days to 2 weeks dependant on weather.

If topping for weeds, we will top a small strip in the field at a time.

Pan

 

[PandorasJar]

Ok, so this is really good information and it is all starting to formulate a proper plan in my head. Thank you so much!

The problem is it is just too much land to manage and I do not have the machinery at the moment to harrow and spread the pooh so I am pooh picking by hand :-( The farmer next door topped the fields for me but we pulled ragwort 1st, I was concerned about the topped cut grass though and whether they will be ok to go back on the fields with the cut grass laying on it as there was so much. I thought this was harmful to horses but people seem to be telling me otherwise. So they are basically back on the part they had strip grazed already by themselves with no encouragement from me which had no long grass to be topped.

The ground is actually really good. It is part clay / part sand with an incline so drainage is good and I just get a few poached patches when they congregate at the bottom and by the gates. They live out 24/7 but in the Winter I supplement with hay and hard feed where needed. I intended to give my old boy hard feed all through the Summer to keep him well conditioned but I think he was so full from all the grass he refused it every day for a week!

When you stop feeding, temporarily tape off gateways. This gives them a chance to recover when the grass started coming up.

Pan

 

[TracyPostling]

Sounds like I am not doing too bad then! I am resting the topped parts of the field for at least 2 weeks so it can dry and I have usually fenced off my gateways as they all charge at the gates when trying to take 1 horse out anyway, but I had to use all my electric fencing posts to split the huge field in half but I intend to get more!

Thank you for your advice, I think I have something to move forwards with now!

 

[Shazzababs]

If you have 14 Acres to manage you are gonna need a little tractor, or its going to be really hard work, unless your neighbour is particularly lovely. There is a recent thread on here somewhere where someone was asking about compact tractors, ours is a lifesaver.

I'd start saving for one now!

 

[paulineh]

I would divide the 2 fields up again so that you can rotate more.

I have just over 4 acres grazing plus an area for the stables , caravan , trailer and cars, the fields are divided into 3 and a strip with a field shelter in. The fields are roughly half an acre (used as a sick paddock or if a horse needs to be separated)

A 2 acre field which I use mainly for the summer. One field of just over 1.5 acres which we use for the winter.

All the fields I will rotate through out the spring and summer. The winter field is shut off at the beginning of September to allow it to grow up. I put the horses in that field from Christmas .

All fields have access to the field shelters and the stables.

I will top, harrow and roll as need be. I also have (at the moment 5 horses on the land, hopefully getting another one soon)

I have the use of my Nextdoor neighbours three quarters of an acre when need be. This is just over the fence to my winter field.

Smaller acreage is better to manage if you don't have the equipment yourself. I bought a small harrow and roller that I tow behind the Land Rover. A farmer friend tops them when they need to be done.